Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 2:59 am PST (10:59 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 1:22 am PST on 25 February 2021 (09:22 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 11km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
78 km (48 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 24 km (15 mi) E of Salinas, CA
- When
- 1:22 am PST on 25 February 2021 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 0.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 27 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 4 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2086 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salinas, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 26 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Ridgemark, Hollister, Chualar, Gonzales, San Juan Bautista, Boronda.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 46,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 14 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 41 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 11 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 14 km NNW of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 36.6953, -121.3688. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Merced County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.3 6km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 2.3 12km NNE of Hollister, CA
- 2.0 27km SSW of Los Banos, CA
- 2.0 26km SSW of Los Banos, CA
- 1.7 12km NNE of Hollister, CA
- 2.6 12km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 10km E of Gilroy, CA
- 1.8 9km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 11km SW of Ridgemark, CA
- 1.9 8km NE of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.8 8km NE of Ridgemark, CA
- 3.2 10km E of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 8km NE of Ridgemark, CA
- 1.7 10km E of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 5km WSW of Hollister, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.